Feminist Blog Carnival

Are you looking for some interesting reads? Check out the Feminist Blog Carnival #16 hosted by Virginia at Beautyschooledproject.com.

I'm currently pondering this Play-Doh Manicure.


My mom showed her how to do that. Now when we play play-doh we have to do this. Hrm.

Why Didn't I Think of This Before?

Maybe it was one of those universe alignments, but today I decided to try a new activity with the Lorax. I originally tucked the idea away after reading the post on No Time For Flash Cards - I have yellow split peas left over from Thanksgiving and I even bought a bag of the green ones. Today, I poured the green ones into the container, added a few supermarket coins and random spoons / scoops / kitchen toys and let her at it.






Concentration from her, near bliss for mommy.

Near, because even though she got right into it and had a great time, I did hear the "ping" of the peas hitting the floor / heating grate under the table. Oh well, it's not a difficult mess to clean up and something Lorelai can (and should help).

Bliss, in that I heard her talking to her favorite stuffed animal about how she was stirring and pouring.

Bliss, in that once I thought of putting the bucket on a cookie sheet (hoping to catch runaway peas) she decided to move all the peas from the bucket to the tray, then started "writing letters" and then sang the ABC song all on her own. Wow.

Yep, and now she's crawling on the floor, smooching with Jackson and asking him if he wants to play.

This week started out really rough (terrible twos are truly terrible) but they seem to have settled down for now.

Guy Socks

Back in December I cast on a pair of socks for Dan. 3 months later, I have finished!

The pattern is Manhattan, by Lisa Dykstra, and is really fantastic in its simplicity. There is some stretch and it works well with the variegated yarn.


The yarn, by the way, is Intention Yarns in the "Simplicity" colorway, a club special. At first I was not into this colorway at all but Dan spotted it on the table and admired it, so, the guy gets his socks. I like it a lot better now that it has been knit up. I still have a little more than 15 grams left (I had made Dan a mini-sock ornament out of this yarn for Christmas), so I'm thinking about working on some "boy booties" for a friend who recently had a little boy.


Color goes nicely with our house dachshund, don't you think?

Color Pop

Betz White I am not. Though I love what she does. I am inspired - and I have a need for some new decor, but I really don't want to go out and spend a whole lot. So, a trip to the craft store, a little raiding of the Lorax's box of fuzzy pom-poms, I dug out my hot glue gun and VOILA!


I do wish that I had the smaller size of pom-poms - these were the smallest in a big mixed bag - but, I like the pop of color. It's subtle and just enough of a change.

I've got knitting to do and a bit of sewing, if fabric I ordered arrived in today's mail (I hope!). I don't know what has gotten into everyone, but it feels like a lot of my knitting friends have been digging out their sewing machines and playing with fabric!

What My Child Is Reading

I'm sitting next to another stack of books from the library. And what is my child reading? She's going back to the books that are ours, not on loan. Figures. :) I get a lot of ideas on what to try next from No Time For Flashcards and Totally Tots - so far many of the suggestions have been hits!



One Duck Stuck is a great counting book that starts out with one duck getting stuck in the muck, and an assortment of animal friends come to try and help the duck get unstuck. Cute, rhyming, great noise words. I like the variety of animals too. This is a fun read.

Itsy Bitsy Spider - one of the first song / finger-plays that Lorelai did on her own, this book goes further along - what else did that spider try? I picked up this book for Lorelai at Rhinebeck / NY Sheep and Wool last fall and met the author!

Night Cars - a gift from Daddy, he heard about it on NPR (I think) and we had to actually wait a while for it to arrive. Not a rhyming book per se, but told in a more poetic style. It has taken me a few reads to get used to that. It's a cute story about a dad and baby and ends with a "Coffee Break" - one of Lorelai's favorite things!

Tell Me the Time - a present from Aunt Betsy - this book takes the reader through each time of the day and each page ends with a question to the child. Lorelai has started getting very interactive with this book and I love hearing her answers to the questions - sometimes she just says what she sees on the page, sometimes she has something else to say!

The Very Busy Spider - in keeping with the spider theme, this is back in heavy rotation. Beautiful illustrations, excellent animals, and it's Eric Carle - what's not to love?

Look at what I've done!

I'm still a bit obsessed and scattered over the same projects as the last post, but I've got some photos and updates, yay!
First, those pretzels? A bit of work, but in the end, totally worth it.

To improve on them they need more salt - I salted them, but didn't press the salt down into the dough.

I can finally post a photo of my square contribution to the lap blanket our SnB made for a fellow member. Wife, Mom, Knitter has a great blog post that better describes the project.

I searched on Ravelry for "boobs dishcloth" and found the Nubbins for Ta Tas pattern, perfect!

I finished up a few baby gifts this week. Our friends who were married down in Virgin Gorda had a baby girl a few weeks ago. Seahorses were a theme at the parent's wedding, so that seemed like a good idea to work with for the baby.

Seahorse pattern by Hansi Singh - so cute! I used cotton so baby Calla can gum on it when she's ready. I also attached the tail to the back of the seahorse to make a little loop, but then I forgot about the back fin, so instead I put it on the head of the seahorse, like a crown.


I also whipped up a little Heart Hat using the same purple and pink yarn. I adore Susan B. Anderson's work - I have all of her books - but no surprise, this hat was also a little fiddly in the end to attach the heart. I hope it fits!



I've got a few more crafty plans to attack today. It's a grey, rainy day - good for new projects and knitting. I've got photos to frame, knitting, knitting, knitting, and I think I'll be attempting to sew and a Betz White project. Good stuff.

My mom brought the Lorax a new raincoat and pair of puddle boots - this morning she was very excited to try them out and it was hard to get her back in the house! There's rain forecast for the next few days, so I'm sure we'll be out there frequently.


My new favorite photo:

Obsessed and Scattered

I feel like lately my mind has been running a million miles a second - I've had so many brain flashes of ideas (that may or may not actually work) and trying to follow up on these ideas leads to more inspiration online. Which leads me to supply sources which brings more inspiration, and so on.

The current jumble of my thoughts is along these lines:
*I shredded chicken for chicken enchiladas tonight. This is something that for some unknown reason has scared me to no end. Today I jumped in and did it. I can't wait to eat dinner tonight. (Thank you to Tried & Trues and One Stop Cook)
*I watched the "Good Eats" Pretzel Episode last night, and currently have dough rising. I love the bread-y yeast-y smell. Good eats today, fingers crossed! And wouldn't you know it - I had bookmarked Amy's post on ReadyMade - You Should Make Soft Pretzels but didn't read though it until today. Yep, Alton Brown's recipe.
*Corey Haim died. An obsession of my past, I've adored him since I was 10 or so. So sad.
*I'm determined to crochet some potholders.
*I'm going to give quilting a try: bag, table runner, Flower table runner, Mini i-spy quilt
*I'm going to spend some time with my sewing machine: bowl wraps, napkins, Sandwich Wrap, make my own bias tape, origami drawstring bag...

Maybe it is due to these last few days of beautiful spring-like weather. It's time to refresh and renew and revive. Until the next three days when it is supposed to just rain. Then I'll hunker down with my wool again. No, I'll get to it today after I clean up the kitchen. My current projects are still in blob form and not all that interesting to show off - in another day or two we'll be there.

I finally have some pictures of me actually wearing my Central Park Hoodie - I love this sweater and wear it frequently. We went up to New York state to visit my brother and sister-in-law's new house, along with the rest of the family - it was a great day, good food, great location.

(The Lorax was startled that Daddy was taking the pictures, not mommy for once.)

What My Child Is Reading

I've been thinking I really should be better about keeping track of certain things - like how much time some of my knitting projects actually take me, the funny things Lorelai says now that she's starting to make full sentences and recall and expressions, and what she's reading. I loved to read as a kid, and I still do (Have I got a book for you, but that's another post). I've been adding books to Goodreads - I made a specific "Read-with-Lorelai" shelf and that seems to be a start. I am very excited that she seems to be really getting back into books - when we visit the library we are now taking out a huge stack at a time - like 12 - 15 books! Some are sought out, some are duds. I'm always on the lookout for new ones and new things to do with them. I'm looking forward to getting a lot out of Memetales and Mouse Grows Mouse Learns - maybe if you know a few kiddos you'll get some ideas as well.




In heavy rotation for the last week or so, we have the following.
Richard Scarry's Best First Book - I gave Lorelai a simple Richard Scarry book at Christmas and she kept talking about Huckle, the cat. I remember having one or two of these sorts of books - there are so many things to look at in the illustrations and I think it is good for word building (yes, I realize she can't read yet, but there's opportunity to practice our letter recognition. Pre-reading skills.)

Where is the Green Sheep? - we have read this enough times Lorelai can recite it on her own. It's a cute little rhyming story about the sheep doing all sorts of things (except that green sheep.)

A Pocket for Corduroy - I enjoy Corduroy, but not this particular tale. It's ok.

The Sleepy Little Alphabet - we bought our own copy of this after taking it out from the library - very cute story about the letters having to go to bed. Not annoying with the rhymes and the illustrations are fun. Two thumbs up!

Once Upon a Potty - another one Lorelai can recite. We're working on potty training and for a 2+ year old it's going ok. I'm getting tired of reading this one though. Need to find a new bathroom book.

Olivia - this one I like a lot, the story is simple (and non rhyming! That seems to be a novelty around here). I think the story is still over Lorelai's head for comprehension, but she has sat through it a few times.

Impact.

I almost don't have words for this. I think most people who read my blog already know this, but seeing as how my blog has become a fairly good record for the everyday happenings of my life, it makes sense to me to record this as well.

On Wednesday night, Dan went out to see some friends. On his way there (around 9:30), on a main road in the next town over, all of a sudden there was a car in his lane. He swerved to the left as it became clear the other car didn't see him or was going to move. They crashed - on the passenger side. Side air bags went off. He got out of the car and heard the people in the other car say something along the lines of "get rid of the alcohol". Everyone (dan + the 2 girls in the other car) was fine, just shook up - the other passenger had a bloody nose. When the police arrived, I guess they could smell the alcohol on the passenger and the driver said that she was distracted looking at her iPod. Dan heard the officers talking to each other about the girls and he mentioned that they were talking about getting rid of alcohol. So the officer went back over and went to the driver, gave her a field sobriety test and then she was arrested on the spot for DWI (or suspicion of, whatever it is called). Oh and get this - she's 20.



I guess the passenger had a suspended license (and she was drunk anyway), and the driver was going to pick her up - or that's what their story was. She's got to be in huge trouble. We figure that she's home on spring break from college. We looked her up on Facebook and found her and the last "status update" on her FB page (3 hours before the accident) is a reference to smoking a blunt.



So, the car is toast. The front passenger quarter panel is all smashed up / glass is shattered. And you can see looking at the car how it took the impact - there is evidence of like a ripple effect along the back side of the car. Scary, yes. Crazy, yes. It's just a car. But still. Dan is fine - he's a little bruised. But we are all shaken.

Can't help but think of the driver - she's got to be having a worse time of it. I can't find where to begin to imagine if Lorelai were to ever be in this sort of situation.

Please, buckle up. Drive safe. Pay attention out there.

A tale of two shrugs and other stuff.

This may be the first time where I have knit the same thing twice (socks excluded). And it wasn't terrible! These shrugs, DROPS design #98-47 are quite cozy and warm. I know I have some wool that would be great - I held the yarn doubled and that took 3 skeins of yarn. Being sample knits for Romney Ridge Farm, I used their yarn, and the hanks are around 200 - 225 yards each.


(Jackson totally thought that my sitting on the floor waiting for the camera self-timer to go off was an invitation for him to snuggle on my lap.)




I think I have rediscovered a love for garter stitch. It's squishy and easy and you have got to love the texture!



Even picking up the edging wasn't too bad. I will say that working for several hours with doubled yarn and US17 needles made my hands ache a bit. Worth it though. When I needed a break from that I have been working on a test knit - Caitlin's Cardi - for me, in Schaefer Yarn, Miss Priss, Thistle colorway.

Love one-piece (or, mostly one-piece / minimal seaming) sweaters, but the downside is that there are a lot of stitches. I feel like on the patterned rows it takes me an awful long time to knit across. I'm maybe 7 inches or so up the body - it's coming. With the shrugs done (deadline knitting) I have a bit more flexibility in my knitting schedule.

It is nice to have not just one, but two finished objects so quickly. And these are two of my Ravelympics events, though I've watched very little of the Olympics. I've been feeling a bit "meh" lately - I'm waiting on some leads, watching "Hoarders" and "How Clean is Your House" doesn't make me feel any better, the weather has been icky, Lorelai has been going through some HUGE developmental milestones that are exhausting to me (she's talking in near full sentences, with memory recall, and detail, and we're working on potty training.) and then my notions bag busted!


The zipper pull came off the zipper-thingy. I had to cut into the bag to get at my notions (I credit my years on the high school costume crew for my abilities with a seam ripper)! I'm hoping I can salvage the fabric in some way, but I'm not sure.


On the plus side, I do have a brand new notions bag. A fellow blogger, Samantha started selling project bags that she made on etsy. I thought they were great and left her a comment that I would love a dachshund fabric bag - well, she came through and it is fantastic! Then she let me know she had more dachshund fabric and would I be interested in it or another style? I said yes right away and we discussed the idea of a notions bag. Perfect timing, who knew?

There's a sweater in progress in the bag on the right, and I'll be filling up the notions bag ASAP!

Once I'm done asking Jackson to model.

That Doesn't Look Right (Until the End)

A recent test knit has been completed, yay! I worked on Icing by Samantha Roshak. I used Cherry Tree Suri Lace Alpaca, colorway is unknown as I have long lost the band. But it's pretty and totally my colors, blues-purples-grey. Aside from my bat shawl, this is the first project for which I have actually used lace weight yarn! I like the effect of lace in a slightly heavier weight yarn (more like a sock weight) and I think this would be a great project for a special skein of sock yarn as well. I used roughly half a skein, and in the end it measures about 12" x 60" (more on that in a bit).

I will say I have had a lot of trouble figuring out how to get a good photo of this particular object. I took a bunch and am going to run with them and if the inspiration fairy strikes later I'll revise my photos. So for now, I'll deal with a lot of "That Doesn't Look Right".

For instance, Jackson as a model, though the photo does show the fuzz factor of the yarn, pre-soak / block.


Also pre-block, the scarf was about 3 dachshunds long.


I was surprised to find after soaking the scarf, that the water was blue! I had no indication that would happen - no dye came off on my hand while knitting, and nothing was on the towels after blocking, so really no big deal, but it makes you stop for a moment and go, huh?


This project has me seriously considering blocking wires (or a trip to the hardware store for a DIY version) - I had to block this in sections, and it was a pain annoying. Luckily, lace dries pretty quick. I used my metal knitting needles to help block it out - a tip I learned from Samantha back when I knit a little something last summer. For this type of project, it's not ideal, but it does get the job done. And when I'm wearing it around my neck, no one will really notice (unless my blog readers see me wearing it, please don't mention the blocking to me) :)

When I see this picture I think "Knitting. UR doin it wrong."

Now that it's all unpinned it's deliciously soft and airy and will be a great late winter into spring scarf, I love it. I do worry about catching one of the lace holes on anything, but that's my clumsy nature. I will try to be careful.

Holes in my work, must be lace!



I'm just trying to be fancy here. I think the chandelier in my dining room has potential.


On a person, wrapped roughly twice around my neck and there is still length for tucking in or whatnot.

In other knitting related events, I've managed to kill another sock. Lorelai has enjoyed looking at my heel poking through -

This is the first time I have busted through a heel. In fairness to the sock it was a different construction (this is bartholomew's sock from the Cat Bordhi sock book) and I think that may have contributed to some wear and tear. Since I've killed 3 pairs of socks in the last year besides this, and all those socks went out at the balls of my feet, not the heel, I'm confident in that assumption. Makes me second guess making more socks in that style of construction.

I decided to sign up for the Ravelympics, ambitiously of course, because I don't know how to do things like that any other way. My plan is "competition" in 4 events - Skelegurumi (have another baby toy to make), WIP Dancing (finish up my Seahorse) and 2 Sweaterboard Crosses. I am working on two shrugs for Romney Ridge Farm - one in a navy / blueberry - purple and one in a variegated cranberry-ish colorway (neither have labels, so I"m not 100% on the colors). This is my first time working with a DROPS pattern and I find it interesting that the pattern is only a paragraph! Not a problem if you know how to knit, but it keeps me on my toes - double checking my work. Right now, both bodies are done - they need a slight block and then seaming and picking up stitches for the edging.

Each piece looks like a funky chromosome to me.

Here's half of my funky chromosomes - helping to cook some Annies for dinner.

Another snowfall, another project.

But first - the hearts I made for my valentines:

Left over sock yarn, held doubled - one made with a face for the Lorax, the other is a sleepy eyed heart with a heart tattoo on its backside, for the hubby. Quick and cute.

I have been trying to come up with other ideas for things to do with the Lorax - she's not really into playing by herself, but if you sit with her she can be content and focused on a project or whatever. I had brought out my button jar and big old box of fuzzy-puff-balls again and I'm getting bored with it (even though it's wicked cute to hear a little two year old voice say "Daddy? Play buttons and fuzzies?"). Poking around the web I've found some new blogs to follow- Totally Tots, Preschool Playbook and No Time For Flashcards are some I'm really enjoying.

I spotted a post online that reminisced about Paint With Water - did you do those? I know I did, hubby did not. Anyway, painting is one of those crafts I'm a bit hesitant about start with the Lorax - I think she might still be a bit too young (and lets face it, she's just as content to scribble with crayons or markers), and I don't want to make a huge mess that I will have to clean up. But those paint-with-water type books might be a great idea. According to the post you can find them at amazon and target (will have to look this week), and dollar stores (keeping my eyes out). Poking around a bit more I found an Inspired Ideas blog post about making your own with watercolor paper, watercolor pencils, and just add water! Brilliant!

I took advantage of coupons in my JoAnn's craft store flier and picked up a set of the pencils and a pad of paper. We printed out the pdf file in the "inspired ideas" post, I drew a few things for the Lorax and let her go to it - she loved to dip the q-tip paintbrush in the water and then dab at the drawing:

Then she wanted to do some of the coloring part as well, so we went back and forth between coloring and painting. This worked out (for the most part) really well - she was focused on this for 25 minutes and didn't want to get out of the chair to greet Dan when he came home.

I gave it a go too:

Not too shabby.

My next activity to try with her is going to be a lacing project - I found a pack of lacing beads at the dollar store - will she stick with it or just get frustrated? I also want to try our hands at Fruit Lacing - I think I already have all the materials for that, just need to put them together.

Love.

"My little dog, a heartbeat at my feet" - Edith Wharton


"No symphony orchestra ever played music like a two-year-old girl laughing with a puppy." - Bern Williams


"For you see, each day I love you more, today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow." -Rosemonde Gerard

I wish everyone gets an extra snuggle or two today, maybe some chocolate and that you take good care of you! I am extremely blessed with my little family - we have kept the celebration simple - balloons for Lorelai (one blue, one yellow that she picked out at the grocery store), I made a heart for Lorelai and Dan, and I received a hand-written-valentine from Dan (we used to exchange letters all through college / grad school when we were apart). Sushi for dinner tonight, yum. Simple and happy.